From Puppy to Prince
by Riley Wolfe
Summary: FT Fluff Week Story! Natsu and Lucy take a job, not knowing what they actually have to do. When Natsu is turned into a puppy of all things, Lucy learns her feelings about him may not be just platonic. Then, just when she feels like she has her feelings under control, Natsu starts doing things for her that cause her feelings to endanger their friendship, or maybe make it blossom...
1. Puppy love and human tears

It was yet another day at the guild. Cana was sitting on one of the tables, her barrel of beer in her lap. Happy was over at a different table with Wendy and Carla, thanking them for doctoring him, as he'd been bedridden with food poisoning for a few days. Kinana behind the bar restocking the wares while Mira chatted with Lucy and Natsu about their latest adventure. It hadn't gone unnoticed to the She-Devil the way the two friends were sitting slightly further apart and making sure not to brush against one another, or the way Natsu kept glancing at Lucy, whose cheeks would be stained just a bit with pink every time she caught his gaze. Mira knew something had happened on the job that the two were avoiding.

"So what was the job for you two? I thought it was a bit fishy that all it listed were the reward and location." Her eyes glinted with all the possible reasons for their awkwardness, her inner matchmaker going wild.

Natsu's eyes lit up at the chance to tell the story, "It was amazing! Once we got to Shirotsume Town that is…" His face turned slightly green at the memory of the train and carriage rides. Lucy decided to finish the story for him.

"Once Natsu recovered and we had our hotel room, we went to the address on the flier. It was a little cottage outside the town about five minutes. When we knocked on the door, a little old lady answered."

 ***Flashback***

Natsu knocked on the old wooden door. After a moment it opened, revealing a woman who appeared to be in her late 70's or early 80's. "We're mages from Fairy Tail, I'm Natsu and she's Lucy. We're here about the job." He held up the parchment for reference.

"Oh, yes! Come in, come in! I'm Mrs. Trina. The pot of tea I made just finished brewing. Would either of you like a cup?" Lucy nodded, while Natsu declined the offer. The woman fixed the tea, and served it to Lucy, setting the tea set on the coffee table in front of them. Once everyone was settled, the elderly lady pulled out a vial that some swirling reddish brown liquid in it. "I posted the job because I need help testing something. I make potions for the nearby village. Well about a week ago, I overheard some of the village children talking about how it would be amazing to be able to turn into their favorite animals for a few hours. So I made a potion, this one here, that would allow one to become a dog for about six hours. I tested it on myself first, and it works well with no side effects."

Lucy leaned forward, "So why do you need us? You already tested the potion."

Nodding, Mrs. Trina smiled and continued, "Well some of the villagers have magic, and I don't know how this potion would affect them." The two mages looked confused. "To solve your confusion, I don't have any magic. The potions I make, while they do have magical properties, don't require magic to be made."

"Why don't you just ask one of the villagers if they would help test it for you, then you could save your money?" The blonde mage nodded at her partner's question, also wanting to know.

"If I asked one of my friends, and the potion didn't work as planned, they could be stuck in that form, or even killed." Both mages gasped. "By killed, I don't mean dead. I simply mean that their mind would slowly adapt to the form they had taken, meaning they would lose their human identities. But if I can make sure that these potions are safe for mages, and then I'm sure my money spent paying you two to test them would be recouped quickly. Currently I only have this dog one. So, will one of you help me test this? I'm certain there is minimal danger."

Lucy hesitated. As exciting as it sounded, she couldn't help but worry about the risks involved. She turned to Natsu, to discuss it with him, but he had already grabbed the vial and downed over half of the elixir. "Natsu!" She quickly knocked the vial out of his hand, but it was too late.

"Hey Luce, I feel funny…" After that, he began shrinking in his clothes, with Lucy unable to do anything but watch. It seemed like it took forever, but in only five seconds, her friend was gone. The pile of clothes where he had been sitting twitched, and there was a shuffling sound, then it started to move. She peeled back the layers of clothing, startled when a small, salmon-haired puppy popped into view.

The little dog panted, licking Lucy's hand on his way to climbing out of the clothes. Once free, he barked once and a small jet of fire shot out of his mouth. Lucy giggled and scratched puppy Natsu behind the ears. He immediately sat on his haunches and his back leg started kicking, signaling his pleasure at her touch. She turned to Mrs. Trina, "Why is he a puppy? It would make sense that a child became a puppy, but not an adult."

"The potion is for what species of animal. How old you appear depends on your personality and mental state. I'm guessing that your friend has a mind similar to a child, or that he acts like one most of the time." Lucy chuckled, thinking how she had no idea how spot on she was. "If you wouldn't mind, could you two stay in the area and come tell me when he changes back? The town is quite the tourist destination, you know!"

With a smile and a nod, Lucy picked up Natsu, holding him to her chest. "Mmhm! Years ago, we came here on our first official job as a team. But back then, we never really got to explore the town. It would be fun to look around and sight-see. Do you happen to have a bag that I can put his clothes in for when he changes back?" Mrs. Trina nodded and went into another room, coming back a moment later with a canvas doggie backpack. Together, they fitted the harness onto Natsu, who wouldn't quit squirming.

"That harness will stretch when he changes back, so there is no need to worry about him breaking it or getting hurt." The old woman attached a leash to the harness after Lucy put the clothes into the bag on Natsu's back, then handed Lucy the other end. Lucy waved goodbye to Mrs. Trina, and with Natsu running ahead of her to sniff everything he could, the two made their way back to town to their hotel room.

"Okay, Natsu, you stay here and I'll be right back. Don't destroy anything while I'm gone." Lucy left Natsu in the main part of their hotel room while she went to the bathroom to change into some cooler clothes. The morning had been chilly, but now it was in the afternoon, she had begun to sweat on their walk back. It struck her as ironic that what she would tell human Natsu was nearly the exact same thing she told puppy Natsu, making her giggle as she changed.

Once done, she grabbed Natsu's leash and together they headed out to go sight-seeing. Everywhere they went, children and adults alike would coo and fawn over the pink German shepherd husky puppy. Natsu seemed to enjoy the attention and would play with the children, running around them and chasing them, only to be chased right back. Lucy smiled and watched making sure to keep an eye on the time so he didn't change back and scar these people. After a few hours of walking around, Lucy tied Natsu outside a store and went in, coming out a little later with a grocery bag in hand.

 ***End of Flashback***

"… And so then we went and sat at a bench and had dinner till he changed back. We went back to Mrs. Trina to tell her it worked for six hours and that there were no worries about magic users, and she gave us the 50,000 Jewels. We went back to the hotel and stayed the night, mainly because we had paid for it, and also because the carriage to Oshibani Station didn't leave till 8 AM the next day." Lucy finished the story and sipped her milkshake.

Mira could tell that Lucy had left some things out, but she wouldn't press her for them. She would ask Lucy later for the details of why she and Natsu were different around each other. "Well that was quite the adventure! I'm glad you two had fun!"

Checking the time, Lucy finished her milkshake and stood up from the barstool. "I think I'm gonna go home. I need to unpack." She waved at her partner and a few others in the guild hall, then began her walk home. Her mind flew to what happened at that bench…

 ***Flashback***

They went to the edge of town and the blonde sat on a weather-worn, secluded bench, figuring Natsu would change back soon and she didn't want any witnesses. She opened the bag and brought out a bowl and some water, filling the bowl before setting it on the ground for Natsu. Going back into the bag, Lucy pulled out some charcoal sticks and matches. When Natsu had drunk some water, she lit one of the sticks and held it out for the pup to eat. It was entertaining to watch the puppy jump around the stick, his tail wagging, then take a bite of fire, only to go back to jumping around.

Her hand getting tired of holding the flaming stick, she stuck it into the soft dirt a few feet from the bench, then lit two more and doing the same to them. Lucy laid back on the bench, staring at the stars. She could hear Natsu running around the fiery sticks, snapping at them, barking once in a while. Her eyes closed and she thought about what she would do if Natsu didn't change back. What would the guild think? What about Happy? If Natsu didn't change back, he would be gone. Soon he would just be a dog, not the lovable young man with salmon hair who always seemed to be aloof, and yet able to do or say just the right thing when she needed it most. Who would be there do catch her when she fell? He promised he would always be there, and yet he foolishly drank that potion, knowing he might not return to normal. Did he not think? Did he not care about how it might affect his family?

Without her notice, tears silently began to fall down her face and into her hair. Before long she was sobbing, the thought of losing her dragon slayer almost too much to take. Lucy turned onto her side, facing away from the town, not wanting any passers-by to see her weakness. The sobs made her shoulders shake and her breath hitch. She didn't even bother attempting to wipe away the tears.

Right when her thoughts turned irrational, becoming about how the guild would blame her for the loss of their friend, Lucy felt a hand brush against her cheek, wiping away her tears. Her chocolate eyes opened to see the onyx eyes of her beloved friend staring back. It took her a moment to realize they were human eyes, not canine. She sat up quickly and wrapped her arms around Natsu, sobbing in relief, falling off the bench in her haste to hug him.

He simply wrapped his arms around her and held her, letting her cry on his shoulder. He knew what made her cry, he had seen her look when he drank the vial, and he had caught the worried look that would flash in her eyes every time she checked her watch. Natsu knew his recklessness had hurt her, and he felt terrible for it. Rubbing her back, he comforted her till her sobs began to cease.

Lucy leaned back and looked him over, to make sure he was human, quickly realizing that he was both very human and VERY naked. She yelped and leaned away from him quickly, hiding behind the bench, looking away. Her cheeks had turned a very deep shade of red at the sight. Natsu, once he realized why she ran away, chuckled.

"Don't laugh at me! Why didn't you get dressed? You knew your clothes are in the pack." Lucy kept her eyes covered as she turned around to yell at Natsu.

His laughter stopped. "You were crying. You were crying because of me. I couldn't just take the time to get my clothes out and get dressed when you needed me." Natsu turned and began to get dressed, sitting beside her once he was fully clothed.

Touched, Lucy's anger subsided. "Well…. You could have at least put on pants or something…" She knew she couldn't stay mad at him, not while knowing that her crying affected him that way. Lucy climbed back onto the bench and hugged him, then just leaned against him.

After a few minutes more of just enjoying the feel of her best friend being next to her and not covered in fur, Lucy stood and stretched. "Come on, we need to go tell Mrs. Trina that the potion worked and that it's safe." Natsu nodded, and by the time they got back to their employer's home, his carefree grin was back. They got paid, and went back to the hotel.

Lucy told Natsu she was going to shower, then he could, cause he smelled like a dog, making him laugh and give his trademark grin, which in turn made butterflies appear in her stomach. Again she was confused at this, but she shrugged it off as after-effects of seeing him naked. They both showered and soon Lucy was asleep, Natsu crawling into her bed during the night, holding her to him, like a teddy bear, before he too fell asleep.

 ***End of Flashback***

Natsu knew something was off with Lucy. She didn't tell the whole story, not that he would, but he wouldn't tell because he wasn't proud of having made Lucy cry. He didn't want to tell anyone of that. A few minutes after Lucy left the guild, Natsu left too, telling Happy not to follow. Happy knew something serious had happened, so he didn't question his friend.

He decided to go straight to Lucy's apartment, climbing up to her bedroom window and looking in. He could see steam coming from under the bathroom door, telling him she was in the shower. Unlocking the window, he let himself in and sat in a chair off in the corner, so as to not be immediately noticed when Lucy entered the room.

When Lucy did finally enter, dressed in her pajamas, he stood.

"Luce…" His voice sounded low and rough, full of emotion.

Lucy jumped slightly when she heard him, "Yeah Natsu?" She turned to face him. There was a look in his eyes that made her want to go to him. Instead he walked to her.

"I am so sorry Luce….. I didn't think. I didn't consider the risks… My lack of thought hurt you, and for that, I promise to pay attention more." Natsu walked to her and wrapped his arms around her, pressing her to him. "I wouldn't be able to take it if you were taken from me. You or Happy or anyone from the guild. You all are my friends, my family. I am sorry… Please forgive me?"

Lucy didn't know what to say. Her heart fluttered when he told her he wouldn't be able to take it if he lost her, but then her stomach twisted slightly when he included Happy and the guild. It confused her, so she put it to the back of her mind to think about later. With a nod, she wrapped her arms around her friend and rubbed his back like he had for her the previous day. "Yes Natsu, I forgive you." Lucy could feel Natsu physically relax, like he had been tense or expecting her to say no.

"Luce?…" His voice was muffled since his face was pressed into her neck.

"Yes Natsu?" She smiled at the change of tone from a few minutes earlier.

"Would it be okay with you if I stayed the night?…" That question threw her for a loop and she leaned back from his embrace to look him in the eyes. Never had he asked before, but considering what they had just been talking about, it made sense.

She nodded and he smiled. "Just don't hog the bed!" He just laughed and lay in his usual spot, patting where she normally lay. With a sigh, Lucy laid beside her dragon slayer. Natsu held her like he did the night before, and soon they bother were asleep.

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **I bet you all can guess what the theme is for this chapter! Its "puppy"**

 **So I'm on tumblr, and today is the first day of FT Fluff Week. So today's story is actually the first bonus story! Ill be telling you all what my theme is for each story down here in this area, so be watching! Also, I'm welcoming you all to give suggestions as to where you want this story to go. Besides the themes, which I can give a link in the reviews if you all want, the only requirement I have for suggestions is it has to be fluff. And at least have NaLu as the main pairing. I'm open for other pairings being mentioned though!**

 **Natsu: Hurry up and write the next chapter already! I'm dying to know if Luce can figure out what she feels!**

 **Happy: Don't get your hopes up! She is blonde after all!**

 **Lucy: HEY!**

 **Happy & Natsu: hee hee...**

 **Lucy: Riley would like me to tell you all that she does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters, Hiro Mashima owns those.**

 **-b**


	2. It's more fun when we're together!

A week after the puppy incident, Lucy seemed different. She had started avoiding Natsu and Happy, taking solo jobs, and even avoiding her fellow guild mates. It seemed that all she wanted to do lately was sit in her apartment and write. When she had to go on a job with Team Natsu to Oak Town, she made sure she bunked with Erza.

It was on the way back from this job that Natsu had had enough. The group was walking from Oak Town to the Desert Village to the south east, with Lucy lagging far behind the rest. A few times now, Natsu had tried to walk beside her, but she would either slow down or speed up, anything to not walk by him. By now the whole guild knew something had happened between them during that trip to Shirotsume Town, and had been giving him grief about it.

When they finally reached Desert Village, they booked two rooms, at Lucy's request. Natsu pulled Gray aside when they had gone into their room. "Gray, you gotta help me!"

"Is it about whatever you screwed up with Lucy, Flamebrain?" Gray glared at him like he normally did, but this time there seemed to be more than playful rivalry behind it.

Natsu collapsed onto the bed, his head in his hands. "Yes, I want to fix it. I don't know what I did, but I need to fix it. I can't take the way the guild looks at me, and I can't take the whispers. But most of all, I can't take her absence… It's killing me!" He started pulling at his hair.

Gray had never seen his frienemy so distraught. Sure, when one of his friends was threatened by the enemy, or he felt like his guild was being attacked, Natsu could become serious and quite insightful, but this was different. This was true pain. Gray put a hand on Natsu's shoulder, "What do you need?"

Looking up at his friend, slightly surprised by the change in Gray's demeanor, Natsu nodded, "I need to have some alone time with Lucy. Do you think you could convince Erza to leave early tomorrow and not tell Lucy? Happy can go with you guys, I just think if I can get her alone, and actually talk to her, with her having nowhere to run away to, that she will have to listen to me." Happy, who had been listening the whole time from the little table in the room, decided he would go with Gray and Erza. He didn't like seeing his friends hurting.

With a nod, Gray pulled a chair next to the bed. "Yeah, I can do that. Erza will definitely go along with this. I'll talk to Erza tonight, and then I'll go talk to the carriage driver. Since we are his only passengers, I'm sure it won't take much to convince him to leave early. Also, Lucy will want to go home as fast as possible, to get away from you," Natsu winced as he said this, "so she will probably decide to start walking to the next town, since there is only one carriage a day that leaves from here. The nearest place is the Sabertooth guild, so she will probably head there. Use that time to talk to her." Natsu nodded, hope glinting in his eyes for the first time since they took the job. Gray stood, "Now I'll go talk to Erza. Stay here. You don't want to spook Lucy." With that, he left.

Natsu laid back on the bed, closing his eyes. He wanted to badly to believe that this plan would work, because if it didn't, he could lose Lucy forever.

Meanwhile, in the girl's room, Gray knocked on the door. Erza's voice called from inside, "Come in."

Gray opened the door and walked in. "Erza, there seems to be a problem with the carriage driver. He said he wanted to speak to you. He mentioned it was something about the carriage being over-packed, I think."

With a sigh, Erza stood and went to the door. "Come on Gray… Lucy, I'll be back." She stepped out of the room and walked to the end of the hallway, away from sight or hearing range of her room, with Gray following. "Spill it. You and I both know the carriage man didn't say that, so what do you want?" She put a hand on her hip, glaring slightly, looking quite formidable.

"I spoke with Natsu."

Erza's eyes darkened upon hearing those words. "What did he want?"

"He wants us to go on ahead and leave Lucy here with him. He wants to talk to her." Gray held his ground, knowing if he didn't stay strong, Erza would go tell Lucy what was happening, or punish Natsu.

She shook her head, "No. I'm not going to leave her here just to he can hurt her more. If he wants to apologize to her, he can do it with us here or at the guild."

The ice make mage clenched his fists, "You don't understand. He doesn't want to apologize. He wants to find out what's wrong. He doesn't understand why she has been avoiding him. And before you say something about him just saying it so he can get his way, I saw his eyes. He was speaking the truth." To prove his point, he stared into Erza's eyes. "He needs to be able to work things out with her, and he can't back in Magnolia or with us around. She just locks her door and window, or redirects any conversation with him to us. Natsu is right, she needs to stop running from him and face whatever he did or didn't do."

Erza's eyes softened as she listened. For acting like a buffoon most of the time, Natsu could be pretty smart sometimes. Titania nodded and smiled softly, "You are right. It's time for Lucy to deal with this and move on."

"Right. Now we need to go and talk to the carriage driver and see if he will let us leave early. Lucy will have to choose to wait for the next one, or she will have to walk to the next town, that being the Sabertooth guild. Either way, Natsu should have plenty of opportunities and time to talk with her." He and Erza began walking to their transport's home, explaining the short version of the situation to him. The carriage driver told him that they could leave at 5 AM instead of 8 AM. They told him it was fine and that they would be ready by then.

The next morning, Lucy awoke and stretched. She couldn't wait to get back home and start writing. She dreamed about the perfect fight scene for her two main protagonists, and she wanted to get it on paper before she forgot it. It was a good thing they would be going by carriage. It meant that their trip would be cut in half, letting them get to Magnolia by nightfall.

Looking around the room, she noticed that all of Erza's belongings were gone. "Huh… Maybe she already took them to be packed into the carriage." Lucy shrugged and started getting ready, packing away everything she wouldn't need in her go-bag. After tying up her blonde hair in pigtails, she picked up her bag and left the room and went to the front desk to return her keys. "Um, excuse me, but I was wondering if you have seen my friend. She came in with me and two guys yesterday, has long red hair?"

"Oh yes, Dearie! She left a couple hours ago. Told me to tell you to…" The little old lady behind the counter started searching the cluttered desk, stopping when she had found a small paper with writing on it. She cleared her throat, "'Lucy. Gray, Happy, and I have gone on ahead. Use this time to sort things out with Natsu. This has gone on long enough. The guild misses you, and you're hurting Natsu and Happy. Erza.'"

Lucy groaned and hung her head, "Thank you Ma'am…" Just as she turned to go outside, she ran into someone. "Oof! Oh, sorry sir, I didn't watch where I was…. Natsu?" She looked up at who she had run into and sure enough, it was the dragon slayer. He nodded to her, smiling, but the smile didn't reach his eyes. Lucy knew she had been hurting him, but it was that half-smile that broke her resolve.

"Hey Lucy," She noted how he didn't call her "Luce" like he normally did, "you ready to get going?"

Sighing, she nodded. "Yeah, let's go." Lucy turned to the door and walked out, letting Natsu follow behind her.

After walking for about an hour, Natsu cleared his throat, "Hey, Lucy? Can we talk?"

She knew it was coming. "Yeah Natsu, what do you want to talk about?"

"Why have you been avoiding me? What did I do wrong? Not only that, but why did you start avoiding the guild? Erza had to practically drag you on this mission." Natsu's voice was dripping with confusion and pain. Lucy knew what she had been doing was wrong, but she didn't know what else to do.

Lucy stopped walking, moving to the side of the road where there was a rock, then sitting on it. "Natsu… I never meant to hurt you or the guild. I just…. After the mission in Shirotsume, I couldn't help but think about what would happen if I lost you, if I lost anyone of my guild mates. I just couldn't take it. First I lost my mom, then I lost my dad, then I actually lost him… It felt like, feels like, whenever I begin to get close to people, they will eventually leave me. I wouldn't be able to take losing someone else, especially you." She took a shaky breath, "I know you told me you would try to not be reckless, and on this job, it was like you were a whole other person! But what if something happened that was out of your control? Mom and dad got sick, nothing they did caused their deaths, and yet they both left me."

"I figured that if I distanced myself from you guys, that maybe one day, if one of you died, it wouldn't hurt. But I just ended up hurting everyone, you most of all. I'm sorry…" She hung her head, hearing Natsu walk to her.

"Luce. Don't worry about what isn't in our control. All we can do is train to get stronger so when the worst does happen, we can deal with it. Aside from Happy and Igneel, you are the most important person in my life. You are my best friend! And don't you remember? It's always more fun when we're together!" Natsu by now was kneeling in front of her so she could see his face, which had that brilliant smile of his plastered on it. "Never forget that we are all in this together. If I did die, I'd want you by my side, instead of being alone. Wouldn't you agree?"

By now, Lucy had tears streaming down her cheeks and her stomach tying itself in knots, but she was grinning like the fool in front of her. She nodded and hugged Natsu, and when they stood, they held up their hands in the Fairy Tail Salute. Together, they shouted to the sky, "Because we're Fairy Tail Wizards!"

The doors to the guild hall flew open, revealing the two mages. "WE'RE BACK!" Natsu yelled into the guild, making people chuckle, including Lucy. Together they walked to the bar and sat at their usual places, with mages calling out here and there "Welcome back"s and telling Lucy how much they missed her.

Mira walked over to the two partners, "So guys, how was it?" She smiled at Lucy, her eyes telling the blonde that she was going to have to explain her actions later.

"Oh Mira! There was this one guy who thought…" Natsu continued with his story, acting like his old childish self, with Lucy smiling at him. She corrected his story once in a while, making Mira and any nearby people laugh. Everything was as it should be, except for one thing. Ever since Natsu confronted her about her behavior, no, before that, since the puppy potion incident, Lucy couldn't seem to stop thinking about the pink haired man who occupied most of her time. Even now, laughing with her friends, she couldn't help but think "When did Natsu become so grown up?"

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **Wow! This chapter! Who knew Lucy could be such a worry wart? Heh... Well anyways... The prompt for this chapter was Together/Come on!, and I chose Together. And yes I used their famous line for the title. It was kinda a given, considering what happened. Isn't Natsu such a sweetie?**

 **Natsu: Hey! I've always been this way!**

 **Happy: Aye!**

 **Lucy: Yeah, but most of the time you're a total goof.**

 **Natsu: Erza! Lucy and Riley are picking on me!**

 **Gray: What are you, five?**

 **Natsu: No one asked you Ice Princess!**

 **Gray: You wanna go, Flame for Brains?!**

 ***cue Natsu and Gray fighting***

 **Me: *sigh***

 **Erza: Riley does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters! Now... BOYS?!**

 **Natsu & Gray: EEP!**


	3. Music in my ears and a song in my heart

"Hey Happy, I'm gonna go home. You can stay here, ok?" Happy nodded, knowing form the look in his eyes that he needed some alone time. Natsu stood from the bar, waving to the rest of the guild. "See ya guys!" A chorus of mismatched goodbyes echoed throughout the guild as the fire dragon slayer left. A certain blonde mage watched, curious as to why Natsu was leaving without Happy. Those two rarely went anywhere separately, so seeing him tell Happy to stay and Happy actually listening, well that was nearly unheard of!

After Natsu had left, Lucy turned to Mira, "Hey Mira, do you think Natsu has been acting a little different? I mean since we came back this morning."

"Now that you mention it, he has been a bit quiet. Maybe the job took more out of him than he wants to let on?" The white haired woman smiled at Lucy, "I wouldn't worry. He will be back to normal in no time!"She then went back to wiping off the counter with a rag. A few minutes later, Mira noticed that Lucy was still preoccupied with thoughts of the fire mage. "You know, you could always just go to his house and see what's up…"

Lucy's eyes lit up as she got up quickly. "You're right! Thanks Mira!" She ran out of the guild, making her way out of Magnolia to Natsu's cottage-like house. Watching the blonde girl leave, Mira smirked. Her plan for the two partners seemed to be coming together nicely.

Panting, Lucy made her way up the slight hill to the little house at the top. As she neared, she thought she could hear someone's voice. Her footsteps slowed, wanting to be quiet, as she realized it was Natsu, but he wasn't talking. For a moment, she couldn't believe what she was hearing. Lucy crept up to the window and peeked in.

There was Natsu, sitting in the middle of the floor, with papers strewn about him. That wasn't what was most odd. In his hands was a guitar, and he appeared to be singing while playing it. "I didn't know he could play…" Lucy murmured.

She sat there watching him strum his guitar lazily as he looked around him. He shifted some of the papers, changing the melody to whatever was written. It took her a minute to realize he must have written the song himself, because it wasn't one that she had ever heard of before. Lucy watched as Natsu took a breath, then opened his mouth to start singing again. It took her a moment to realize he was singing about the guild and their adventures. In her head, she commented every now and then, eventually settling to just listen.

" _When you´re ice-makes cold,_ " That's Gray… " _Tarot cards all fold_ ," And that's Cana. " _And these doors stay locked, With the keys we hold,_ " She figured out that line was about her. " _When your ship sets sail, And your stomach fails,_ " She giggled a bit at that, watching Natsu make a face. " _You can find your balance in Fairy Tail, You cannot hide from me, Cause we´re a family_ ," Lucy nodded at this, smiling slightly. " _Just let the beast inside, Take over don´t you cry, If you stay close to me, Remember you´ll, Be freed, The evil king will call, Dorma Anim will fall._ " Lucy frowned, remembering the Edolan creation.

" _Now these, Oracion Seis, Will bring the, Darkest days, But I´ll stay by your side, During this, Demon fight, I´ve got a, Fire in me, And I know inside, I can feel it burn, The dragons will return!_ " Lucy realized this was the chorus, and while she frowned again at the mention of the six demons, the next line had her thinking. Who was this written for? Not for the first time since the Puppy Potion job did she get butterflies because of thoughts of Natsu.

" _You´ve aching bones, And you´re out of home, And you´ve lost your way, You're not alone, Hold your hand up high, To the light of day, Though there's miles, Between us, I´m looking your way, Why do you always frown? When the rain comes down, They say you just bring gloom, I´ll stay here next to you, If you stay close to me, Remember you, You´ll be freed, Zeref even Jellal, The darkest guilds will fall._ " Lucy couldn't get the butterflies to stop, and they just got worse the more Natsu sang. His voice was in tune, nothing like when Gajeel sings. She felt that she needed to hear the rest of the song without the pane of glass between them, so she stood and slowly opened the door, walking inside, standing just out of eye sight. It amazed her that Natsu hadn't noticed her yet. Normally his dragon senses would've alert him to her presence by now.

" _Now these Oracion Seis, Will bring the darkest days, But I´ll stay by your side, During this demon fight! I´ve got a fire in me, And I know inside, I can feel it burn, The Dragons will return!_ "

Lucy walked a little closer, and when Natsu started singing the chorus for the last time, she joined in. " _These Oracion Seis, Will bring the darkest days, But I´ll stay by your side during, This demon fight! I´ve got a fire in me, And I know inside, I can feel it burn, The Dragons will return!_ " When Lucy added her voice to his, Natsu jerked, his strumming faltering a bit, but he quickly fell back into rhythm.

With the last chord dying in the air, Natsu and Lucy were silent. Neither one wanted to break the silence, but they both wanted to speak. Eventually, Lucy broke the silence. "That was beautiful…"

Natsu nodded and slid the strap of his guitar off his shoulder, laying it beside him. "Thanks Luce…" His cheeks were just a tad red, as if he was embarrassed.

"W-who was that for?" Lucy mentally scolded herself for stuttering. For some reason though, it was just so hard to think straight around him right then.

He looked puzzled, "What do you mean?"

"Well, in the chorus, one of the lines was "but I'll stay by your side," and all throughout the song, the phrasing is as though the writer is talking to someone. I'm going to go out on a limb, but I'm guessing you wrote it, right?" Lucy sat beside Natsu, moving a few papers out of the way.

Natsu sighed, looking nervous. "Yeah, it's for someone. And yeah I wrote it. You better not tell anyone at the guild! They'll treat me like Gajeel, and I'm not half as bad as he is!" He chuckled at this. "As for who, I can't say. I just felt the need to write this. I know it's for someone though."

Lucy felt butterflies fill her stomach, and her chest felt warm. For some reason, she felt as though Natsu had written it for her. What seemed odd to her though, was that she almost wanted it to be for her. After a minute or two of silence, she looked at him to see him watching her. "Don't worry. I won't tell anyone about this. Only if you promise to let me hear you sing again in the future." He nodded, smiling a big toothy grin. "Now, I'm sure your starving, and I'm hungry, so what do you have to eat? Please don't say fish."

Natsu and Lucy spent the rest of the night enjoying each other's company. Unfortunately for Lucy, all Natsu had to eat was fish, but she enjoyed cooking it anyways. Not long after, Happy came home and made it a point of making fun of Lucy, calling out every time he saw her blushing, which would result in Lucy objecting vehemently and chasing the flying cat around the room.

At some point, when Natsu was watching Lucy chase Happy for what seemed like the hundredth time, he realized something. Lucy never blushes this much. It made him think, yes think, about what could be causing her rosy cheeks so much.

Late into the evening, Lucy bid farewell to the two and made her way to her own home. When she passed the doorway, she shut the door and just leaned on it. She had been thinking about her night with her best friend, and now that she was alone, her heart was pounding. With a gasp, she knew she needed to write to her mom, having forgotten to write for the entire time that she was avoiding her friends.

She rushed to her desk and pulled out a fresh piece of paper. Grabbing her pen, she took a breath and started writing.

 _Dear mom,_

 _I'm sorry I haven't been writing you lately, so much has been going on! Well I guess I can't actually say a lot, but it feels like so much has happened._

 _I guess I should start from the beginning. Well a little more than a week ago, Natsu and I took a job that was so mysterious! All that was on the request was the location of the employer and the reward. It wasn't much, just 50,000 Jewels, but Natsu thought it was mysterious, and since it was his turn to pick, we took it. Happy had eaten a bad fish the day before, which earned him a case of food poisoning. I guess that's what happens when you don't immediately eat a fish and carry it around!_

 _Anyways, the job was in Shirotsume town, the town where that Duke Everloo was. It turned out that the person who hired us was this little old lady who made potions. She wanted us to test a potion she had been perfecting that turned the drinker into an animal. I was hesitant, what if you didn't turn back, ya know? But Natsu threw all caution to the wind and drank it!_

 _It took a minute to take effect, but when it did, he turned into a salmon colored puppy! He was so cute! The lady had me and Natsu go and sight-see, and the townspeople loved to see Natsu. He would play with the kids and drag me around. That night he changed back, but I was so scared he wouldn't, because the six hours were almost up on the drink and he wasn't human yet. I started crying, and he changed back then and comforted me. He was so sweet and kind. And the look in his eyes! I felt so bad for crying in front of him. Well we got paid, and went home, but I couldn't stop thinking about how I might have lost him._

 _Over the next week, I sorta avoided everyone, foolishly thinking that if I avoided them, it wouldn't hurt if something happened to them. Then Erza forced me to go on a job, or else face her wrath. You know about her, so of course I went with them, Team Natsu that is. On the job I tried so hard to avoid Natsu. I couldn't take seeing the hurt in his eyes because I was ignoring him. I know, how stupid of me to think it would help if I ignored him more._

 _All we did on the job was escort a lord to Oak town. On our way back though, Erza, Happy, and Gray left me and Natsu to walk home. I suspect Natsu asked them to. He confronted me about my silence and avoidance of him, and I broke down and told him. I couldn't keep doing that to him, especially when he stopped calling me "Luce." You know how much I like it when he calls me that._

 _Once we got back, which was this morning, it was like nothing had happened. I noticed that for the first couple hours though, whenever someone called to Natsu, even if it was Gray or Mira, he would wince. Just slightly, but I caught it. I feel so bad for what I must have put him through. I think the whole guild had turned on him just a bit because they thought he had hurt me, which he kinda did, but not intentionally!_

 _The guild sort of threw a miniature party for my "return" to the guild. Sometime towards the evening, Natsu left, but he looked preoccupied. He also told Happy not to come with him. Those two go everywhere! So I followed him. Mom, did you know he could sing? AND he can play the guitar! Waaaaay better than Gajeel can, might I add. He was singing this slowish song, called Dragons. He wrote it. It was beautiful, and his voice was melodic and smooth….._

 _I am literally pinching myself! Well anyways, I ended up singing with Natsu, and then cooking for him (what's new?), and then Happy came back and we goofed around a bunch. Happy kept making fun of me because I was blushing so much, but I couldn't help it! Every time I looked at Natsu, my cheeks would burn! I couldn't help it, not with him in his waistcoat, which he had unzipped and taken the belt off so I could see his chest. He was just sitting there watching me and Happy, and his infuriatingly cute grin was on his face the entire time! Oh dear… I just called him cute…_

 _Mom, I think…_

 _I think I'm in love with Natsu._

 _Love,_

 _Lucy_

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **This chapter's prompt was either Music or Games. I totally picked games right?**

 **Well it l** **ooks like things are getting more serious for Lucy. And what about Natsu? Do you think he will realize her feelings? Or maybe his own?**

 **Gajeel: Why did you make fun of my music! I'm AMAZING!**

 **Natsu: Please! A dying cat sounds better than you singing!**

 **Gajeel: What did you say, punk?!**

 ***Gajeel and Natsu have a stare off***

 **Riley: Boys. Seriously! This is supposed to be where we make jokes and have fun, and behind the scenes fight. Get it together!**

 **Gajeel: Riley does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters, or the song in this chapter. Can we fight now?**

 **Riley: Fine...**

 **-b**


	4. The star in his night sky

For a little over a month now, Lucy and Natsu have made it a regular occurrence for them to leave the guild early together at the end of the week. Several of their guild mates have taken it upon themselves to tease them, the most notable being Cana, Mira, Levy, and Juvia. Those four had been letting their minds run wild with thoughts about the two friends becoming more than friends.

One day, Natsu entered the guild like usual, ignoring the jeers from Macao and Wakaba, and headed to his usual spot at the bar. After a minute of scanning the guild, he turned to Mira, "Where's Lucy? She's normally here by now."

"Oh! She told me yesterday that she wasn't going to come in, and to tell you not to worry. I'm sure she will be back tomorrow!" The take-over mage smiled at the boy and went back to cleaning a mug. Natsu sighed and laid his head on the counter. He'd had his eye on a certain mission for a week now, but it had been Lucy's turn to pick a job when he saw it. Today was the day he was going to do it with her, and he didn't want to do it with just Happy. It just wouldn't be the same.

Natsu rose from his seat and headed for the guild, a few members of the guild watching him. He was going stir crazy and couldn't sit there doing nothing any longer. He would have picked a fight with Gray or Gajeel, but both of his rivals were out on jobs. Happy flew overhead as Natsu walked down a random street in Magnolia, kicking a rock.

"Why don't we go hang out with Lucy? I'm sure she would rather have company than be alone!" Happy's logic seemed to make sense to Natsu, and he nodded his agreement, cutting through an alley to get to Strawberry Street. In minutes, they were outside her apartment building. Happy grabbed Natsu and flew him up to the window so he could open it.

Pulling himself inside the room, it was immediately evident that Lucy wasn't there. Natsu sniffed the air. Like he expected, while Lucy's scent was everywhere, making his head buzz just a little, there were no fresh scents. His shoulders slumped, "Let's go Happy. She isn't here."

Happy had landed on Lucy's bed and was sitting there gumming the fish he had brought from the guild. "Maybe she went shopping? She did say yesterday that we ate the last of her food."

"Good thinking Happy!" With renewed vigor, Natsu leapt out of Lucy's window, landing in a crouch on the ground, leaving Happy to close the window. Together, they ran around Magnolia to all of the shops.

Lunch time came and went, and they were still looking. By now they were in Hargeon, waiting for the next train to take them back to Magnolia. It surprised Happy when Natsu suggested taking the train to the port city. Yes, there could be a possibility that Lucy was there, since Hargeon had better shops, but for Natsu to actually suggest taking the train instead of begging the exceed to carry him was… Well it was unheard of! Right then Happy knew there was something different about Natsu.

As the train rolled into the station, Natsu paled to slightly green in color, but he forced his legs to board the moving death trap. Like he had on the train ride to Hargeon, once Natsu was in his seat, he lay down on his side as though he were laying his head in someone's lap. He closed his eyes and imagined fingers running through his hair just like what Lucy would do when they had to travel any way other than walking. Before he knew it, the conductor was calling out Magnolia station.

As they left the train, Happy noticed that Natsu was not nearly effected by the ride as he normally would be if they took the train alone. He made sure to ask him later, after they had found Lucy, but then his stomach rumbled. "Hey Natsu?"

"Yeah Happy?" The dragon slayer turned to his blue friend.

"I'm going to head back to the guild. I ate my fish for lunch, and I've been starving for a while now. And Carla and Wendy said they'd be getting back today from training with Porlyusica." The cat felt bad that he wanted to leave his friend to search for Lucy alone, but he really was hungry. They hadn't stopped for lunch or dinner, and his fish was gone. Plus Carla had been with Wendy for the past week, who was training her healing magic with Porlyusica.

Natsu grinned at Happy, "Of course! And don't wait up for me when you're done. I probably won't be going back to the guild if it gets too late."

The winged cat smiled at Natsu and jumped into the air, waving a thanks to him before turning to the direction of the guild hall and food. Natsu stretched his arms back, then started off in a random direction, figuring that random was better than not since they had already searched the shops.

Another two hours passed, night having fallen soon after Natsu left the train station. He found himself in the woods. He had caught a hold of Lucy's scent, and he was following it now. It wasn't recent, and very faint, but it was all he needed.

Natsu soon arrived at a small clearing, Lucy's scent being the strongest here. And there she was, laying on her back staring up at the stars. As Natsu walked towards her, he could hear her faintly humming his song "Dragons." A smile played on his lips as he walked over to her and sat down, falling back as he tilted his head to view the stars.

"It was about time you found me. I almost thought you didn't notice I was gone." Lucy smirked as she said this, but in her mind it was true. She had been hurt when he didn't show up.

He sighed, "Of course I'd notice! You're my partner!" For once, he noticed how she winced ever so slightly when he said the word "partner." "So Luce, what are you doing out here? Is everything alright?"

Lucy nodded and turned onto her side to face Natsu, "Yeah, I'm fine. Today is the anniversary of the day my mom died. Every year I go to an ice cream shop and get some ice cream, sit in a park for a while, then, just before sundown, I go and buy a necklace for her. Then I find a secluded spot to watch the stars till I fall asleep." She sounded almost cheerful to Natsu, which made sense, since her mother had been gone for about 15 years now.

"May I see the necklace?" She nodded and pulled out a small blue box, handing it to Natsu. He opened it. Inside, there was a necklace with a gold key-shaped pendant, which also had a star charm hanging from the end of the key. He undid the clasp and held it up to Lucy's neck, using his sense of touch to latch it again. "There." The smile he'd had since he saw the necklace widened when he looked at her wearing it. A thought crossed his mind, "She is so beautiful…" He flushed slightly, hiding it with his scarf. "So are you doing ok?"

With a nod, Lucy smiled at Natsu, "Mmhm! But I'm even better now that you're here." Lucy blushed when she said that, thankful it was dark.

"Hey Luce, why don't you tell me about the constellations again?" She could tell he was trying to keep her from thinking about her mom, having seen through her white lie. She had been sad before he arrived, but he really did know how to make her feel better.

Sighing, she laid back down, moving so her head was next to his, then started to point out each of the constellations with a smile. Halfway through, knowing it was halfway because she'd told him about the constellations at least a dozen times now, Natsu turned his head to look at Lucy. His eyes moved over her features, from the way her eyes lit up in the starlight when she became excited about a constellation, to the curve of her lips when she spoke. He knew every detail of her face, and yet he still couldn't get enough of the sight.

Not for the first time did Natsu start to feel a fluttering in his stomach. It felt like he was full of flames, but that they were still flickering. He thought back to all the other times he had felt this way. There was one common thing in each memory: Lucy. He always seemed to feel full of fiery butterflies when he thought about Lucy, or at random times when he was looking at her. Sometimes, even just the scent of her had him missing her.

Gathering his thoughts together, Natsu realized he had fallen for the blonde beauty beside him.

He contented himself to listening to her voice after his discovery. He closed his eyes, enjoying the feel of her next to him, and soon she went silent as she too enjoyed his presence. After a bit, Natsu felt Lucy move and opened his eyes. She was asleep, but she had rolled onto him halfway, using his chest as a pillow, an arm wrapped around him while the other was curled underneath her. A smile danced on her lips as she dreamed about kissing Natsu, unbeknownst to her that he was imagining the very same thing.

Together, they fell asleep in the clearing. A few hours before dawn, Natsu awoke. Lucy was in the same position as before. He carefully untangled himself from her arms and picked her up. Little noises escaped her, making him chuckle.

Natsu carried her all the way back to Strawberry Street. Cautious not to wake her, he walked up the stairs to her front door. He unclipped her house key from the key ring on her hip that also held her Celestial keys, using it to unlock the door.

Laying Lucy on her bed, Natsu removed her shoes, then he realized he had a dilemma. Either mildly undress her, and face her wrath when she woke up, or leave her dressed the way she was, which didn't look very comfortable to sleep in. After thinking for a while, he decided to go for the happy medium, which was pretty much the first option, but in his head, he was doing her a favor.

He went to her dresser and pulled out a pair of larger pjs that looked comfortable, then walked back to the bed. He looked at her shirt, unsure of how to get it off without waking her. Deciding it was best to keep the chest area of the shirt on her, since it was fitted, he slid the sleeves off her arms. He folded the blue fabric and set it aside, then turned to her skirt. A frown adorned his face as he tried to figure out how he would get her skirt off. Just then he noticed a little zipper at the top of the slit that was in the side. Relieved he didn't have to slide the whole skirt off her, he unzipped it and tugged it out from under her, folding it as well and placing it with the sleeved of her top. Now that she was in her undergarments essentially, his face started to heat up. He made sure to keep his eyes on only the portions of her body that were normally visible. He slipped the pjs on her gently, taking his time so as to not wake her.

Content with the clothing and how it covered her, He looked at her face. Natsu then looked up at her hair. "Pigtails can't be comfortable to sleep in…" he thought, reaching up and slowly pulled Lucy's hair free of its bindings. Now that her hair was free and not pulling at her scalp, a contented sigh came from her lips. Which drew Natsu's eyes to them.

Without thinking, Natsu leaned down and gently kissed Lucy's lips. It only lasted for a second, but that single second seemed to take an eternity. When he pulled away, he could have sworn he saw her eye lids move, but as he watched, they refused to repeat the action.

Natsu covered her with her blankets hastily and left through her window after locking her front door. He sprinted back to his house, still not believing that he had kissed Lucy. How would he face her later in the guild? His mind whirled with thoughts, and for the remainder of the night, he stayed away both dreading and hoping for her to have been awake and remember his kiss.

Later that day, in the guild hall, Lucy was sitting with Levy at a table, telling her about the day before. She blushed when she thought about how Natsu had found her and placed the necklace on her, which she had yet to take off. Levy was cooing about how cute Natsu had been, and that she was sure he liked her. Lucy shook her head, laughing, telling her about how Natsu couldn't like her. She then proceeded to tell her about her dream after checking to see if a certain dragon slayer was out of earshot.

Levy listened at her friend described her dream. In it, she was a princess being kidnapped by a knight, and Natsu was a dragon who rescued her. As thanks, she kissed him, and he turned into a handsome young man, who thanked her for rescuing him from the curse he was under by giving her a quick but lasting kiss on the lips.

"But something odd happened then. When I opened my eyes after his lips left mine, I could have sworn I was in my room, and it was the real Natsu kissing me. But it was only like that for a flash, then we were back in that dragon cave from the dream. What do you think it means?" Lucy looked concerned, waiting for her friend's advice.

"Well Lu, I think it means you seriously have at least a crush on Natsu, and I have an idea about that sliver that was in your room. What if it wasn't a dream?" Levy glanced at the fire mage, who at that moment was sparring with Gray, each throwing out insults and trying to land punches.

Lucy followed her gaze and sighed. "Nah… He doesn't see me that way."

All Levy could think was "If only she saw what everyone else sees…"

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **So the theme for this chapter might be hard to figure out. It was Starlight. I also had the choice of Rain, but obviously I didn't use it.**

 **I had a lot of fun writing this chapter, and I have big plans for these two budding love birds!**

 **Levy: Yay! I'm in the story with Lu!**

 **Lucy: *jumps around happily, excited***

 **Happy: I got a fish!**

 **Natsu: That's right, and I got to be the main character this time!**

 **Levy: Riley does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters!**

 **-b**


	5. A picture's worth a thousand words

"'Dear Mr. Dragneel and Miss Heartfilia. We would be honored if you both would accept our offer to participate in a 'Strongest Partners in Fiore' photo-shoot.'" Lucy paused in reading the letter, a letter which the guild had received that very morning. "Strongest Partners in Fiore? It'd make sense for Natsu to go, but why me?"

Natsu threw an arm around her shoulders, "Because we're partners!"

"He's right, Lucy. While Gray and I often partner with you two, you two are real partners. You should feel honored!" Erza then proceeded to slap Lucy on the back in a congratulatory pat that made her stumble.

Lucy nodded and held up the letter to read the rest, "'If you should choose to accept our offer, we will be meeting at Akane Resort on June 13th. In total, there are four partners selected, with your partnership included. We hope to see you in a week!' It's signed by that reporter, Jason."

Flying around Lucy's head, Happy shuddered. "Natsu, are you going to do it?"

"You bet! So whatcha say Luce? Think of it as a redo, since we kinda messed up the last time you were offered to model." He grinned sheepishly, remembering the time that he, Happy, Erza, and Gray had crashed her photo-shoot, making her miss it.

After a moment of thinking, Lucy grinned and nodded. "Yeah! It could be fun!"

And with that sealing the deal, Natsu and Lucy spent the next week training physically so they both looked their best, Natsu doing more so he looked his best for Lucy. On June 13th, they were waiting at Akane Resort, watching as the other partner teams showed up. There were Sting and Rogue from Sabertooth, Kagura and Milliana from Mermaid Heel, and Ren and Eve from Blue Pegasus.

Last to arrive was the actual photo crew. As the day went on, there were small sparing matches, to which the crew took advantage of and shot a few pictures. Overall, it was a good day. There were the obvious swimsuit shots, during which both Lucy and Natsu were lightly blushing the entire time. Everyone present, except for the two, could see the chemistry between them, but no one said anything. However, Rogue did have to stop Sting from asking Lucy out to rile Natsu up.

At the end of the day, each team was given a two-day vacation pass for Akane Resort. The photo crew explained to them that it was their payment for helping. There were a few playful grumbles, but everyone accepted the offer.

That night, all eight mages were sitting on the beach, sipping drinks and joking around. "So Lucy, how do you think your pictures turned out?" Kagura turned to the blonde girl, catching her attention from the glaring match Sting and Natsu were having.

"Oh! Well I think I did ok. I mean, I'm sure they're going to exaggerate certain things…" She hinted at the time from the Grand Magic Games, when the reporters, mainly Jason, made up his own stats about each of the contestants, which meant he focused on her body and looks and not her actual magic.

Milliana's ears perked up, "But this time they're supposed to be focusing on your looks!" She mewed softly with a smile.

"Milliana, I think what Lucy meant was that this photo-shoot was proposed to us as 'Fiore's Strongest Partners.' If all they focus on is her looks, they wouldn't be focusing on her strengths, just like at the Grand Magic Games. You can bet they will focus on Natsu's strength." Kagura sipped some tea, explaining what Lucy meant.

Ren and Eve joined into their conversation, "So… I guess your off the market, Lucy?" Eve hung his head just a bit.

"What do you mean?" A puzzled look crossed her face.

"Oh come on, we all saw how you and Natsu looked at each other, especially during the swimsuit set." Ren winked at her and Lucy shook her head.

She took a drink of her lemonade, "Guys, there is nothing going on between me and Natsu. We are just partners…"

"Ha! I hear that sadness in your voice! You wish you and Natsu were more, don't you?" Looking pleased with himself, Ren took a drink of his martini, watching as Lucy blushed bright red and glanced at the flame dragon slayer. It was obvious she didn't want him to know.

The celestial mage sighed and seemed to give in, "Fine, yes I like Natsu. But you guys had better not tell him!" Everyone listening, excluding Natsu because he had been distracted by Sting punching him, nodded, each silently hoping the two finally realized each other's feelings. The rest of the night passed without much fuss, excluding the scuffle Sting had started with Natsu. Sting had been listening into the conversation just like Natsu had, but when he sensed that Lucy was about to admit her feelings, he felt obligated to distract the first-gen slayer. It was up to Lucy whether or not to tell Natsu.

When Natsu and Lucy returned from the beach, the whole guild was buzzing with excitement. No one could wait for the next edition Sorcerer Weekly, which Natsu and Lucy had been told was the one they would be in.

Lucy walked by a newspaper stand, about a week after the photo-shoot, on her way to the guild, when a new cover caught her eye. "It's the new issue!" She quickly paid the vendor for a copy and sat at a nearby bench to read it. Her eyes tore through the pages, quickly making short work of all pages that didn't involve the photo-shoot. She even skipped past the photo-shoot section to get the pages after, so she didn't forget about them.

At last. Here it was. The Strongest Partners in Fiore section. With shaking hands, Lucy opened it, and gasped. The first couple listed was Team Natsu! She glanced over her own pictures and bio that they had written about her. As always, they exaggerated quite a bit, but at least this time they talked about her spirits and her powers more than her body. Lucy skimmed through the other wizards, saving Natsu for last. There were several things mentioned that she didn't know about her non Fairy Tail friends, which she took note of.

"Ok. Now to read Natsu's bio…" With shaking hands, Lucy flipped back to the page Natsu had been on. Besides noticing it was Natsu, she had passed that page over, wanting to save it. The picture was of Natsu wearing the shredded clothes from his fight with Sting and Rogue in the Grand Magic Games, to which Lucy didn't want to think about how they had gotten those clothes. He was holding his hand up just like he had in the games, with the words "Come on" written in flames above his fingers. Lucy couldn't look away from the sight.

While she was staring at Natsu, not even bothering to read the short bio about him, since it would be dramatically incorrect, and she already knew him so well, she heard a group of girls talking near her. Lucy looked up and saw there was a group of three girls, all about her age, looking at the new Sorcerer Weekly. She would have ignored them, probably should have, if she hadn't heard them say her name.

"Look at Lucy!" "What about her?" "She's so pretty!" "Yeah, I guess." "What do you mean, you guess?! Just look at her! I wish I had her curves…" Smiling to herself at what the girls were saying, Lucy held her own copy of the magazine up so her face would be hidden.

"It's a shame.." "Oh? What's a shame?" "That Natsu had to be teamed up with her. I mean, she's so weak compared to him!" "I heard the guild master made him take her as a partner, since he was the one who brought her to the guild." "Imagine having to drag around a wizard who is useless without her keys? All I'd have to do to make her helpless would be to take those keys of hers. She wouldn't be able to do anything about it!" "I'm sure any one of us would make a better partner that she would! Maybe we should go and try to join the guild, to save Natsu, ya know?" "Tiffany, you're so dense! You need to have magic to join a wizard's guild. Do you think any of us have magic?" Lucy stopped listening after that, the smile replaced by a hollow cold in her chest. The more she thought about what those girls had been saying, the more she could see the reason behind it. Deciding the best thing to do would be to go to the guild, seeing as they always somehow cheered her up, Lucy made her way there.

Lucy called out to the guild as she entered, "Hey guys!" A few people responded in turn, and she made her way to the bar, handing Mira the copy of the magazine since she had a hungry look in her eye. Lucy knew not to keep the She-Devil waiting. Mira already had Lucy's milkshake ready, and so Lucy started sipping it. Unknown to her, a certain dragon slayer was watching her.

Natsu knew there was something wrong from the moment she entered the guild. Her smile wasn't as wide, her eyes held no laughter, and even now, she was quieter than usual. It annoyed him how no one was noticing these things, but he did acknowledge the fact he was, hopefully, the only one who was so attuned to her. The salmon-haired man watched as Mira circulated the magazine Lucy had handed her, and soon people were congratulating them both. Aside from the polite "thank you," Natsu didn't pay them any attention.

He waited for the excitement to die down before tapping Lucy on the shoulder. "Hey Luce, can I talk to you?"

"Sure Natsu! What do you wanna talk about?" The blonde faced her friend.

Natsu looked around, "Not here. Follow me." He walked off towards the library. Lucy, confused at his odd behavior, followed. Once surrounded by books, Natsu shut the door and turned to her.

"What's wrong. And don't say there isn't anything wrong, because I can tell."

Lucy hesitated. She knew she should tell him, he was her best friend after all, but she didn't want to appear weak in his eyes. Obviously, the girl's words affected her. "I…"

Natsu's eyes softened and he lightly pushed her shoulder, making her smile. "Come on Luce, you can tell me! We're partners!"

She took a breath and nodded, "Okay… When I was on my way here, I bought the new Sorcerer Weekly. As I was looking through it, some girls nearby started talking about us and our photos. At first, they liked my pictures, but then they started calling me weak. I know I'm not weak so long as I have Fairy Tail on my side, but it hurt to hear them say things like that. Then they started saying that you were forced to be partners with me, and that they would make better partners even though they didn't have any magic. I just left, coming here even though I wanted to be alone, because Fairy Tail always finds a way to cheer me up, whether it's you, or the fighting, or my friends." It didn't escape Natsu's attention that Lucy had separated him from her friends. That could mean either she viewed him as something more or something less, and he knew he wasn't less than a friend.

With Lucy's eyes down still from telling the story, Natsu began to unwind his scarf, the precious scarf that his father had given him, the scarf that had been with him through thick and thin, and wrapped it around Lucy's shoulders. Her head jerked up, her eyes meeting his, surprise evident in her face.

"Lucy. You are not weak, even without the guild. Don't listen to anyone who says otherwise. You may not be as physically strong as some of us, but you have more heart and more courage than half or Magnolia or more combined. And I would never want anyone else for a partner. You are my partner, no one else's, and I'm your partner. We will always be partners, I promise."

Lucy's eyes welled up with tears and she let herself, for a moment, believe he was confessing to her. If only she knew how close to the truth that fantasy was. She hugged him tightly, "Thank you Natsu… You always know what to say…"

After a few minutes, they broke apart and Lucy returned Natsu's scarf, secretly taking a sniff of his scent as she did. He smelled like fire and smoke and cinnamon. They walked back to the guild hall together, making a few who paid attention to them give catcalls and making Lucy blush.

"You loooooove him!" Happy laughed, circling just out of Lucy's reach.

"Shut it, Cat!" She kept jumping, trying to grab his tail.

Natsu watched for a moment, glad he could cheer her up, before shouting at Gray, "Hey Droopy Eyes! Fight me!" Which then resulted in a table or two being broken, signaling all was right in the guild again.

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **I apologize for this chapter. It is filler. I have the whole story planned out based on the themes and this theme, Promises/Always, was just there. I couldn't find a way to work it in very well, so i did filler. im sorry!**

 **Natsu: Geez Riley, you could have at least had someone confess!**

 **Riley: That's in the next chapter! Stop giving spoilers!**

 **Happy: But you just said-**

 **Riley: Shut it cat!**

 **Lucy: Hey! That's my line!**

 **Happy: Riley does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters!**

 **-b**


	6. I'll always catch you

"Hey Luc-…. Huh? She's not here." Natsu had burst through her window, only to find the blonde mage not in her apartment. Like the goofball he is, Natsu looked everywhere for her, but not in normal human-shaped spots. He lifted her pillow, looked in her drawers, even in the cupboards in the little kitchenette. Pouting a bit, Natsu sat cross-legged on Lucy's bed.

He had been hoping to go on a job with her. He knew her rent was coming up, to which it made no sense to him why she would refuse his offers for her to live with him. He basically lived with her, except he had a house he owned. Yeah, sure, he liked her, but if she lived with him, he would be able to protect her better. The incident with the girls that had been fawning over his excerpt in Sorcerer Weekly the month before had really bothered her. If he had been there, maybe those girls wouldn't have said anything.

A light breeze blew through the room from the window he had left open. The sound of fluttering pages caught Natsu's attention, and he turned to its source. On Lucy's desk, there was an open book. Natsu glanced around the room, making sure Lucy really wasn't there, then an evil grin grew on his face. He darted to the desk, turning the pages to the front.

It didn't take him long to realize this was a diary. "That's odd, I thought her letters to her mom were her diary…" Natsu had read one such letter before, and it gave a general account of what happened during the time she was writing about. But this diary, it held more personal thoughts, things you wouldn't tell a parent, or at least Natsu figured that since he never got to experience that.

"That's odd…" Natsu flipped through more pages, skimming them, "Nearly all of these are about me…" It didn't take him long to realize that. But the more he read, the more he noticed that around the time of the Puppy Potion job, the one they had taken almost three months ago, she started to write about weird feelings when around him. Things like butterflies in her stomach, or her cheeks burning. Slowly, Natsu realized he had felt, still felt, all those same things when he was around her!

There was one entry that caught his eye. It was dated from that morning, explaining why the diary was on her desk in the first place. Natsu read the entry, his eyes widening with understanding. This one entry told him everything he needed and wanted to know.

Natsu grabbed the book moved to the window, launching himself out of Lucy's window. He ran the entire way to the guild. He had to find Lucy!

The doors to the guild burst open, revealing a harried looking Natsu. He nearly ran to the bar, "Mira! Do you know where Lucy is?!" The white-haired take-over mage shook her head.

"Sorry Natsu. She came in earlier, but she was only here for a few minutes. She and Levy talked, then Lucy left. Maybe you should talk to Levy?"

Natsu didn't thank her as he hurried to the blue-haired girl beside Gajeel. "Levy, you talked to Lucy this morning, right? Do you know where she is?"

Gajeel scowled at Natsu, but sensed something was up, so he stayed silent. "Yeah, Natsu, she came and told me she was going to Hargeon. She said that her 'memories caught a hold of her' and that she needed to go there. She wouldn't explain past that, just that she would be there. Do you know what's going on?" A concerned look crossed Levy's face.

Natsu smiled at her, knowing just where Lucy had gone. "Don't worry, everything is fine. And it may get better!" Turning, he left the solid-script mage baffled, running out of the guild to the train station.

A blue flying cat flew by Gajeel and Levy, but an iron-hard hand plucked him out of the air, "Nuh uh Happy, let him go. This is between him and Lucy."

"How do you know Gajeel?" Levy looked up at him, and Happy looked just as curious.

Gajeel held up his hand, "Remember that book he was holding?" They both nodded. "It had Bunny Girl's scent all over it. My guess is it was her diary." Levy's lips made an "o" with understanding, while Happy was just as confused as before. The small girl smiled and explained what Gajeel was implying to him. After that he didn't want to follow Natsu.

Lucy was standing in the middle of a square in Hargeon. It was where she and Natsu had first met. She smiled and looked around herself. That morning, she had woken up from yet another dream about Natsu confessing to her, and it frustrated her so terribly she just had to write it down. Then, as she was writing, she began to reminisce about how she had met the infamous Salamander, and what a fiasco that had been. Lucy felt compelled to visit the spot where he had saved her from the charm spell.

A voice from behind her spoke, making her jump at how close it was. "'I just can't handle being in the guild sometimes. It seems like everyone has someone special, but not me. Yes, I have Natsu, but he doesn't love me more than a friend. I look at Gray and Juvia, and while Gray is always denying it, everyone knows they will make a cute couple one day. And to think of Erza and Jellal is tragic, but so sweet at the same time!' Lucy. Look at me." Lucy slowly turned, bright red with shame at having her inner fears read by the person they were about.

Natsu held open her diary, and once he was certain he had her attention, he continued reading, "'And Natsu, how can he not know how I feel?! He is so observant about other things, why not me? I mean, I count on him so much, maybe he only views me like a little sister? But if it means I get to stay next to him, I think I can handle being just a friend, because, dear Mavis! That boy! He is simply amazing. From the way he looks when he is smiling, to when he has a fire in his eyes that rivals volcanoes. Even when he is motion sick, he still looks cute to me. I remember one time, a guy was making fun of Natsu's hair, calling him a pansy because it was pink. The look he had on his face was priceless, but only his family, and me, can make fun of him. So I decked the guy after we had left.

"'Natsu thinks he needs to protect me all the time, and I love that! He looks after his friends, and will make anyone who hurts them wish they hadn't.'" Natsu furrowed his eyebrows, trying to read past some scribble mark on the paper before continuing, "'I just wish Natsu would look at me as more than a friend. He is so cute, with his abs that are nearly always showing, making me blush every time I see them. And his eyes! They can be so playful, and yet in a flash go to serious. One time, we got locked in a staring contest, he won by the way, but for a few moments, I couldn't look away. His eyes drew me in.

"'I'm rambling now. I guess what I've been trying to say is that through all his faults and screw ups, I can count on him. He made me a promise he would always be there to catch me, and he always has. Happy can attest to the fact I'm not light. I'm not as heavy as he complains for me to be, but I know I'm not a feather. And yet there are countless times where I'm falling and Natsu will use his body like a pillow for me to land on. He has saved me so many times, and I just can't hold this in anymore!'" He stopped reading there. They both knew what came next. The last line in the book. I love Natsu Dragneel.

Lucy hung her head, embarrassed. "Natsu, I-I'm sorry… I never meant for you to read that." It was not like her to ignore the fact that he had gone through her personal things without her permission. All that mattered to her was that he knew everything. All her secrets, all her fears, all her thoughts. He knew how she felt.

"No Luce. No apologies or excuses. I have things to say to you, and you're going to hear me out. Okay?" Lucy nodded, despair in her eyes. She readied herself for what was next. Surely this was the part where he crushed her heart to dust, ending their partnership because she viewed him as more than a friend.

"Lucy. You wrote that I have been blind. Yes I have, and now that I look back, it's been so obvious now that I know what signs to look for. I never realized that you had been blushing all those times. I just thought you were really hot," A blush crept onto Natsu's cheeks.

"I want you to know something. I'm sure your freaking out right now but just listen. You said you felt you could count on me. Well I'm telling you that you still can. Count on me to be there to catch you when you fall. I promised you that I'd always be there, and I will. If I never keep another promise in my life, I will keep that one, because it was to a celestial mage, who values promises above all else, and because it was to you." Lucy felt like her heart was in her chest. Was he saying what she thought?! She didn't dare let herself hope, not wanting to risk this being just another dream.

Natsu started pulling off his scarf, much like he had a month before when she felt weak because of those girls. He started winding it around her waist though. Holding the ends, he tugged on it, pulling Lucy to him. She stumbled forward, unable and unwilling to resist this man, who only stopped pulling when she was chest to chest with him.

He looked down into her eyes, their faces only an inch or two apart. He could feel the heat of her blush radiating off her skin. Her eyes were only half open, and her lips parted just a bit. "Lucy Heartfilia. You are clumsy, and vain, and can be a real pain in my ass. But you are also full of Fairy Tail heart. You run head first into danger if its for your friends. You light up my life like a shooting star. You are a vision of beauty, and it gets hard for me to let you try to 'charm' your way to a cheaper price or to get information. I can't stand having other men look at you that way. It takes all of my willpower, which you know isn't much, to let you go on dates. I am so jealous of any guy who gets to hold your affection, because I want to be the only one you look at that way."

"Luce, you said you could count on me to catch you when you fall? Well now I'm counting on you to catch me. I've fallen for you hard, and there are only two things waiting for me at the end. A hard landing, or you." He moved his face, his lips, closer to hers. "Lucy Heartfilia. I love you. No, that's not right…"

His next words just barely brushed against her lips as he spoke, "I'm in love with you." And then his lips were pressing into hers as they each closed their eyes.

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **Hee hee hee hee hee hee...**

 **They finally kissed! and hot damn! that confession! *fans herself***

 **the theme for today was "count on me" and you guys can count on me to not let this fiery passion these two have found die out.**

 **It was really fun for me to write this chapter, even if it was shorter than most, only 4 pages in Word. (all my other chapters are about 5-6 pages)**

 **Lucy: *blushing bright red***

 **Natsu: *blushing bright red***

 **Happy: Riley would like me to say she does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters, and that if she did, this scene would have happened a long time ago in the manga.**

 **-b**


	7. Where's the proof?

Before she knew it, his lips were on hers. Her mind had been racing, but with one touch, her thoughts scattered. His lips were soft, and warm, which was expected, and the way he pressed her to him let her know she was safe. She had always thought Natsu was cute, but the more she got to know him, and to see how hard he would fight for someone, sometimes when he didn't even know them, it made her fall for him. And now that they were finally kissing, there was only one thought ruling her world. "This is too good to be a dream…"

He had never imagined kissing her before, but now that he was, he didn't think there was any better feeling in the world. He was still shaking from his confession. He had been so nervous. But now that her body was pressed into his, it was near impossible for him to pull away. He couldn't think of a better feeling than having his hand tangled in her hair at the back of her neck while his lips pressed into hers.

She pressed her lips into his harder when he deepened the kiss. She knew that she was going off the deep end, and if they failed, they would crash and burn, but the fire in her chest, the burn across her lips and tongue, they told her this was right.

He knew they needed air, but he wished so hard that they didn't. He let their lips part, nipping her lip with his teeth, pulling it a little. When their lips finally broke apart, he rested his forehead on hers, his eyes still closed. "…Luce…." He spoke her name with the utmost care, putting all his feelings into that one four-letter word.

She opened her eyes after a while, staring at him, memorizing his face, even though she would know it anywhere. "Yes… Natsu?..." She brought her hands up, one to tug on his hair just a bit, the other to cup his cheek. They both were panting, but still she kissed him lightly. It wasn't nearly enough for her, but it would have to do. Her cheeks were a light pink as the whispers from the surrounding onlookers brought her reminded her they weren't alone.

"We should go somewhere with less people…" It was like he read her mind! She nodded against his forehead, watching as his eyes opened and stared into hers. Neither of them moved for quite a while, just one watching the other.

Finally, Natsu loosened his grip on the scarf around her waist, pulling it up and wrapping it around her neck, and then he kissed her forehead. Cheers and clapping erupted from around them, bringing them both completely back to reality. Lucy turned bright red, and even Natsu was blushing. Together, they walked away, his arm around her waist and hers around his, with her other arm coming across to rest on his chest as she leaned on him.

They walked for a while, and eventually they ended up at the overlook where Natsu had decided to save Lucy from Bora, even though he didn't know he would be saving her at the time. "So… Luce?"

Lucy giggled, "Yes Natsu, but you're going to have to ask me to make it official."

He got down on one knee, making her gasp, "Lucy, would you make me the happiest man in the world and be my girlfriend?"

"Of course, now hurry and get up before someone sees you and thinks something else is happening!" She was smiling from ear to ear, unable to cage the happiness in her heart.

Natsu feigned hurt, "You mean you don't want to eventually marry me?" he put a hand to his chest, acting as though his heart was breaking.

"You know I do-" Lucy covered her mouth, a surprised look on both of their faces. Natsu's eyes lit up and he grabbed her into a hug, dipping her low and kissing her.

While holding her just a few inches off the ground, he brushed some hair from her face and whispered, "One day I'll propose. But not today." His lips brushed hers, then he pulled her upright.

Lucy was barely coming out of her head rush by the time Natsu had moved them to a bench and sat her down. He sat beside her and pulled her onto his lap. "You know, we're going to have to go back to the guild, which means they will eventually find out about us. We should probably tell them when we get back."

Nodding, she leaned against his shoulder, "Yeah, I guess. I just don't want them to make a big deal out of it. But you know at least Mira, Cana, Levy and Erza will, and Gray and Gajeel will probably bug you." She sighed.

"Mmhm… I guess we should get it over with. I probably freaked them out this morning when I rushed in there, holding a book, asking where you were. I'm pretty sure Gajeel knew it was your book though. It had your scent all over it."

"Why did you run in there?" Lucy looked so confused as she tried to figure out why her friend, now boyfriend, would have been looking for her. A thought clicked in her mind, "Oh! You were looking for me so that you could confess!"

Natsu chuckled and nodded," You're so weird Luce. Yes that was why I was looking for you."

Another thought struck the blonde, so she turned to face the young man next to her. "Natsu? Why are you so sweet and romantic? How are you? You're normally so aloof to romance and women."

He scratched the back of his head. It took him a minute to find the words, "Well…. I've always been like this, felt this way, except that I never knew you felt this way. If I had earlier, I would have acted like this more. Yes, since Igneel raised me, I didn't have very much knowledge about girls, but being in the guild for almost 15 years now has taught me a thing or two. It's not that hard to compliment someone, even though I don't completely understand why they would enjoy it.

"For instance," Natsu brought his hand up to her hair, taking out the side ponytail that it was in, letting it fall around her shoulders, "you focus on your looks, so if I told you that you look beautiful and should wear your hair down more often," her cheeks flamed at his words, knowing he meant them and that this wasn't just a demonstration, "your cheeks blush just like that, and you would probably wear your hair like this more. But the problem for me is, I've said things like this before, and all this happens, but you generally only would wear your hair down when you were trying to impress a guy, and not just around the guild. Now that we are dating, I bet you will wear your hair like this more!" He smiled his big toothy grin, and Lucy realized that he made up the entire speech on the spot. Natsu was proud that he now had a way to get her to listen to when he complimented her.

"Wow… I'm sorry for never realizing that you were complimenting me. I guess I just got so used to you joking with me that it never registered as a compliment." Lucy frowned at her ignorance.

The salmon-haired boy ruffled her hair, "Don't worry about it! Now that we're dating, I can finally act how I want around you!"

Giggling, she nodded and pecked his cheek. "Let's get back to the guild before they start to worry. It will be well past midnight by the time they get done interrogating us if we leave right now." Natsu nodded and the two walked to the train station.

On the way back, Natsu laid his head in her lap, and she ran her fingers through his hair out of habit. "Ya know Luce, the reason I have you do this is more because I liked feeling this close to you."

"I know…. But if it isn't working I can stop!" She stilled her fingers, acting like she wanted to push him off her lap.

Natsu wrapped his arms around her, looking green already, "No, please! It works! Keep doing it?" Lucy smirked and went back to massaging his scalp.

When Natsu finally kicked the guild doors open, shouting his customary greeting, this time with Lucy joining in, the entire guild turned towards them. Happy made a beeline to Natsu, knocking him back a step with the force. "Natsu! I missed you so much! Why did you leave me here?!"

Hugging Happy, Natsu laughed, "I'm sorry, I just had something I had to do on my own. But I'm back!"

The guild was still staring at the two mages. Lucy realized why and blushed brightly. When they had left the Magnolia train station, Natsu had taken her hand in his and hadn't let go since. They were still holding hands, and while she was embarrassed at all the attention they were getting, she didn't attempt to separate them.

In an instant, the guild erupted into a barrage of questions, "Why are you holding hands?" "Where were you?" "Did you kiss?" "Did you go on a job?" "Are you dating?" "When is the wedding?" "How many kids are you going to have?" and many more. Most of the more invasive questions were voiced either by Cana or Mirajane, both of which had a running bet on the two partners.

Through the inquisition, Lucy moved behind Natsu, her face a shade of red that rivaled Erza's hair. She squeezed his hand, and he understood. "Guys! One at a time! Yes, we are dating!-"

"Prove it." Gray's voice overpowered the fire dragon slayer's, "Show us, no show me, proof that you two are really dating."

Without missing a beat, and not wanting to back down from his rival, Natsu pulled Lucy beside him. He cupped the back of her head, pressing his lips to hers, much like the kiss he used to confess with. He dipped her back, the tips of her hair brushing the floor. Murmurs and cat calls echoed throughout the guild, and when the kiss kept going, a few onlookers, namely Erza, Wendy, Romeo, Carla, and Juvia, blushed profusely. Gray cleared his throat and after a moment more, the two love birds separated.

Gray was now blushing a bit as well. "Ok, I believe you, now will you two get a room?"

"You looooooove her!" Happy called through the guild.

Natsu chuckled and looked into Lucy's eyes, "You bet!"

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **There you go, another slightly filler chapter. The theme was Show me or I lived, and obviously for the story im doing, I couldnt do I lived.**

 **Sorry about this being posted later than usual, I had college and my laptop doesn't like connecting to public wifi.**

 **Gajeel: Yeah yeah... Save it. We all know you were busy making out with your boyfriend.**

 **Riley: I was not! I had to go on campus today!**

 **Happy: Gimme a fish and I'll be on your side!**

 ***Riley grumbles about how she was telling the truth and hands Happy a fish***

 **Happy: Riley was at school**

 **Natsu: Why didn't you just have me beat up Gray?**

 **Gray: Because, Flame Princess, you were holding Lucy's hand.**

 **Lucy: Riley does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters.**

 **-b**


	8. July 2, X794

There was something odd about today.

Lucy had awoke just like usual, but she was cold. She never woke up cold. Natsu was always right beside her in the mornings. Before they had confessed their feelings a year ago, there were days where Natsu wouldn't be there. But now that they were dating, he had never not been there when she woke up. Until today.

"Hmm…" She stood and looked around her apartment. This was her last day here. After today, she and Natsu, with some help from Erza and Gray, would be packing up her stuff to move to Natsu's house. She was finally going to move in with him. They had been talking about it for months, after she had gotten sick the previous winter while bringing him soup and medicine because he was sick. So after hours of discussing it, she finally agreed that it would be best for her to move in with him.

Shrugging, figuring Natsu had left to go and set up his house so some of her more important things would fit, she maneuvered to her dresser and grabbed some clothes. Lucy walked into the bathroom and changed, and when she came out, Erza was standing in her room. For a moment, a vein pulsed in Lucy's temple, but she shrugged off her annoyance. It was Erza, and Lucy had invited her to come help her with the move.

It took Lucy a moment to realize the fact that Erza wasn't dressed to work. She was wearing a pale blue sundress and a matching hat. "Erza, don't you remember? I'm moving out today."

"I know Lucy, and I'm sorry, but remember that boat trip I signed us up for last month?" Lucy nodded. "Well I got the dates wrong. It was today, not tomorrow. So get changed, we're moving you out tomorrow."

Lucy sighed. She knew not to argue with Erza. Striding to the bathroom, she grabbed the white dress she had set out for this outing off the door, changed into it, then grabbed a white and yellow flower hair pin. Leaving her hair down, she pinned up one side with the flower. "Ready!"

Erza nodded, "We need to stop by the guild. I didn't tell Gray we weren't moving you out today."

"Ok!" Together they walked to the guild, calmly opening the doors. Lucy noted that it felt weird to not burst into the room like she did with Natsu. Erza walked over to where Gray was standing, surprisingly wearing clothes, and nice ones too. "Maybe Juvia finally convinced him to go on a date?" Lucy pondered as she made her way to the bar. She asked Mira for a glass of water, and when the barmaid served it to her, she cleared her throat. "Mira, where's Natsu? I haven't seen him all day and he isn't here either."

The white-haired girl gained a knowing smile, but her words said opposite, "I don't know Lucy, I'm sure he'll show up eventually…" Mira couldn't help but notice how often she had spoken those words to either Natsu or Lucy, starting just after the Puppy Potion job that had seemed so long ago.

With a frown, Lucy nodded, and contented herself to sipping her water while she waited for Erza. She watched at her family, the guild, bustled around her, everyone fighting or laughing or just being together. It made her smile to know how lucky she was to have friends like these people.

Before too long, Erza was guiding her back out of the guild hall, then onto a train bound for Hargeon. The two girls enjoyed the train ride to the port city, glad for once at the lack of a motion-sick dragon slayer. They made some polite conversation, but Lucy couldn't help but feel like the requip mage was hiding something. It just seemed like Erza could keep her concentration, which was extremely odd for the woman. Lucy just watched her though, not really understanding why there was such a hurry, but not willing to question the Queen of the Fairies.

Once the train stopped in Hargeon, Erza rushed them into the city. She seemed to keep glancing at any clock she could see. Lucy assumed it was to make sure they weren't late for their ship. She pulled Lucy's arm, making her hurry to the harbor.

When they arrived at one of the docks, the woman in the blue dress moved Lucy to stand in front of the gangplank that lead to a ship. "Stay here, I'll come back after I pay the man." Erza ran off, leaving Lucy on the dock.

To pass the short time, she watched the waves as they rocked the boat. "Natsu would hate this. Even to stand here, he would be green." She mused about her friend, knowing him so well. She often felt he knew her better than she knew herself, and she liked to think she knew him just as well.

After a few minutes, the red head came back and the two girls boarded a rather large ship. Lucy could've sworn she had seen it from somewhere, she just couldn't place where it had been. The ship set sail, and for several minutes, Lucy stood at the railing and watched the port shrink. It seemed so ludicrous that any cities she and Natsu visited would be able to repair the damage they caused by the time they arrived to break things once more, and yet here was an example of such a thing. The port in Hargeon was as good as new, and yet the two mages had destroyed it single-handedly at least 4 times that she could count.

When they were a ways away from land, Lucy heard a throat clear from behind her. It was a man's voice, and one she knew very well. Lucy shook her head, thinking she was hearing things, "Yes Erz-…" She turned and gasped, covering her mouth. Never in her entire life would she have imagined what she saw.

In front of her, was a very uncomfortable looking Natsu, kneeling, holding out a diamond ring.

"Lucy Heartfilia. Ten years ago today, on July 2, X784, we met. It wasn't right here though. It was in that little square where I kissed you for the first time. And I must say, if I had never met you, my life would be dull in comparison." It was now that his face turned a bit more green, and he hung his head, and Lucy realized something. They were on a boat. It was moving. Obviously Wendy hadn't cast Troia on him.

Natsu regained his composure, and continued on with his speech, needing to finish, "We have gone on so many adventures, and have cried and laughed and yelled and smiled so many times together. I know people say in these situations how they could never imagine life without that person. But that…. Cliché, right? Yeah, that cliché is completely true now that I'm standing, kneeling, before you now. While yes I can remember a time without you, I would never want to go back to it. You created a hole in my life, a chip in my heart, and without you, I would never be able to fill it.

"You helped console me after Igneel died. You held me all those nights I would wake up screaming for you, when I would have nightmares about the future you. I would never have gotten through either of those without you. But, do you want to know what the most terrifying moment that you helped me get through was?

"It was confessing my love to you. You stole my heart, and even though I had proof of your feelings in my hand, even though I read it to you word for word, I still needed to hear you say it. But as I stand here now, I must say that this has to be at least twice as scary. Because you now have my heart in your hands. It is completely up to you to destroy or remake my world. I just ask you to be gentle with me."

Lucy was stunned into silence. Here she was, having the man who she loved and would die for, no, live for, down on one knee, asking for the rest of her life. She just gaped at him, wanting so badly to shout the single word that was echoing through her being. Her throat went dry however, and she couldn't seem to get enough air.

It was the thought that Natsu, the man she needed to soothe every time they took a train, no matter how smooth it rode, the man who became motion-sick at the thought of a vehicle, was on this ship, with her, proposing to her. For most men, the proposal alone would be enough to have them seeing double and trying to swallow down bile, but Natsu… He had to go the extra mile. He had to add his own motion-sickness onto his nervousness.

In that moment, the knowledge that she was going to spend the rest of her life with this man, that she was going to marry and have kids with, that she was going to go on so many more adventures with, solidified. It was this one act of love, for that's surely what it had to be, there would be no other reason that Natsu would voluntarily board a vehicle without the Troia spell just to recreate the day they met, that made her more sure than she had ever been. She loved Natsu Dragneel. And soon, she would share his name, his house, his kids, and his bed with him.

In a voice so soft that only one person could hear it, the one that mattered, the one it was meant for, Lucy sealed her future.

"Yes."

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **So sorry this is later than yesterday and WAY shorter. I promise I make it up to you in the next one. I jsut had to end this, because this chapter is just the theme was Serendipity.  
**

 **Now isn't Natsu sweet? Not only is he recreating the places they went on they day they met, but he is overcoming his motion-sickness just for her!**

 **Yes, I know that I missed one place. I use the square, the overlook, the ship, and one other. But I'm missing the restaurant. Im doing that on purpose. cause Natsu, as perfect as he looks, isnt completely perfect.**

 **Natsu: Yeah! You made me not motion sick!**

 **Gray: Your still motion sick you idiot, just not a whimp about it.**

 **Erza: Boys! We need to behave, so Riley will be able to write the last chapter. If you two don't stop fighting, I will be forced to stop you.**

 **Natsu & Gray: Yes Sir!**

 **Lucy: *sigh* Riley does not own Fairy Tail or it's characters.**

 **-b**


	9. A Fairy Tail fairy tale wedding

Lucy Hearfilia, now Dragneel, sat in the Fairy Tail guild hall. Today had been her wedding. It had been magical, and that's saying something considering it was filled with mages! Currently, the young, 20 year old bride was sitting at the bar, sipping some champagne, watching her friends and family dance, while she took a break for a song or two. Her feet were killing her. As she watched all the happy people smile and dance and celebrate, she reflected on the events that had brought her to this day.

All of her friends had been in on everything, including Natsu's proposal. Apparently Natsu is even more of a romantic than she had previously thought. It was only after she had said yes, and Natsu stopped kissing her for two seconds to let her breathe, did she see that most of their friends were on the ship with them. It still boggles Lucy how they all remained hidden on the ship, save for Erza, before Natsu popped the question.

Gray had actually been dressed up to help Natsu. Everyone had been, but Lucy only noticed Gray, probably because he was actually dressed for once. And Mira was actually the one to rent the ship for the day. Natsu, who had been the mastermind behind everything, had specifically asked for that ship, because it resembled Bora's ship from the day they met. Happy, Carla, and Lily were the ones who got everyone onto the ship before Lucy and Erza arrived, using their Aero magic.

Returning her attention back to the party, Lucy smiled. When she and Natsu had come back from Hargeon, the entire guild celebrated the impending marriage. During the excitement, Makarov pulled Lucy and Natsu aside. He had been thinking about something ever since Natsu had told him that he was going to propose to Lucy. He announced to them both that if they so chose, they could have their wedding be in place of the Fantasia Parade. The guild master explained that since Natsu was infamous in Magnolia, let alone Fiore, and their wedding would be just the thing to announce Fairy Tail was back for good after their war on Tartaros and disbandment. At first Lucy was against it vehemently, she didn't want a big spectacle, but Natsu won her over by begging.

So here she was, on October 15th of the year X794, in a wedding gown, now a married woman. Natsu insisted that they held the ceremony inside the guild hall, mentioning that the next place they had gone on their first day as partners and friends was to the guild. Lucy then pointed out that he forgot about how she had treated them to food at the little restaurant in Hargeon. He shook his head, adamant that he hadn't forgotten it. They argued for a few minutes, till Happy broke them up by explaining to Lucy that he and Natsu had gone to look for the restaurant just before he proposed, but it had closed down.

The ceremony itself was grand. Makarov let them hold the actual ceremony on the second floor, so that the main floor could be used for the reception afterwards. The entire wedding party gathered up there, which made it slightly cramped, but what wasn't in that guild? When it came time for the vows, Lucy's were about how Natsu had saved her countless times, not only from death, but from loneliness and fear. Natsu's vows were more about how Lucy cooked the best food he had ever eaten, then he apologized to Mirajane, and then he told her about how no matter where he was, as long as she was by his side, he was at his strongest. They each then placed a ring on the other's hand, and then Natsu, in true Natsu fashion, grabbed Lucy and jumped from the balcony onto the bar, yelling to get the party started.

Because it was replacing the parade, the event was open to anyone in Magnolia, and since the guild hall couldn't hold everyone, Freed had set up lacrima cameras in the guild, and lacrima screens outside so everyone could see. So the streets of Magnolia were filled, and every now and then, someone would be brave enough to enter the guild hall and give a gift to the happy couple.

Everyone else in the guild had many gifts for the two. Erza gave them a silverware set that looked like weapons, the knives were swords, the forks were tridents, the spoons were made to look like whips that were coiled. Mira gave them bed sheets, a knowing look in her eyes that made Lucy blush brightly, which made Natsu confused as to why she was blushing. Cana's gift was a year's supply of alcohol from her personal stash.

Happy's gift to the two was a brand new fishing rod, saying he saved up money by not buying fish so he could get it for them. Gajeel and Levy combined their gifts, giving Lucy and Natsu a giant metal bookshelf that was half filled with books for Lucy. They told Natsu the other half was for his treasures that he had collected from various jobs over the years.

Gray told them in private what his gift to them was, which as Lucy reflected back on it, his gift was probably for the whole guild, not just them. His gift was that he would ask Juvia out during the reception, figuring that it was payment for all the years Juvia had claimed Lucy was her "love rival" even though it was so evident who Lucy liked. Wendy's gift was a romantic massage retreat for them, though mainly for Lucy, and for Natsu, she gave him a book on edible plants, mentioning a story she had been told where he ate random mushrooms and a mushroom grew out of his head.

Carla's gift was a premonition. She had been practicing and could now, to an extent, voluntarily predict things.

 ***Premonition***

A little girl, about 3 years old, with medium length, spiky pink hair and hazel eyes, was tugging at Lucy's hand. She was pointing to where a little boy, about 8, dark blue hair was throwing water balls at a young boy, also 8, with golden hair and sharp teeth, who was using a sword to slice them in half.

"Mama! I wanna go play with Gavin and Lucas! It looks like fun!" The little girl was positively adamant on getting to the two boys.

With a sigh, Lucy let go of the girl's hand, "Don't terrorize your brother too much!'

"Okay Mama!" The girl sprinted across the guild hall to the two boys, and when she got close enough, she jumped on the dark haired boy's back. "Get him Lucas! Call out Loke! We'll win for sure!"

Juvia walked up to Lucy, "Hey Lucy! You're kids sure do take after Natsu, don't they? I mean, their ganging up on my Gavin!"

Lucy chuckled, "You know he started it by getting Lucas' hair wet."

"True…" Juvia watched the kids spar with Lucy.

"So are Natsu and Gray still on that mission? I know it said it'd take at least two weeks, but I would have thought that with those two, it'd be only about four days!" Lucy turned to Juvia, smirking.

Juvia giggled and looked to her friend, "It's probably taking so long because our husbands can't seem to figure out that the jobs they take would go smoother if they worked together, and saved the fighting for once they got back. I guess that 's what they get for wanting to take the job together."

"Well you know Erza is expecting, and Jellal is busy with the Crime Sorciere. So unless they want us to go on jobs, they have to either go alone or work together."

Juvia sighed, "I just wish they didn't pass on their rivalry onto our kids."

"Me too, Juvia, me too…" Together, they turned to watch the two Dragneel children form a dogpile on the Fullbuster child. The girl was punching the blue haired boy beneath her with mini flaming fists, and he was matching the attacks with watery shields, when the male Dragneel began to tickle his sister.

 ***End of Premonition***

When Natsu and Lucy heard Carla tell how they would have two kids, and that they would have their magic, but switched, they both smiled and blushed. They each couldn't wait for that future to come about. Juvia and Gray on the other hand were both blushing brightly. Now they knew for a fact that they would marry eventually.

Now that she knew she was going to end up with Gray, Juvia couldn't look at him. She was so embarrassed at how she had dogged him all those years, when there was no need. Gray, deciding there was no time like the present to begin the future, turned Juvia to him and kissed her hard, making everyone present stare. It certainly wasn't how any of them had imagined the wedding to go, but it was a pleasant surprise.

As Lucy smiled, lost in her thoughts of how Juvia had looked when Gray had asked for a date with her, someone in front of her cleared their throat. When she looked up, she was met with dark eyes that danced with excitement, a wide smile with sharp teeth, and salmon pink hair. "Would you like to dance, my Princess?"

"Why yes I would, my Prince, I would love to!" Lucy laughed as Natsu pulled her up from her chair and spun her onto the dance floor.

Natsu looked to the band that was playing and nodded, and a certain song began to play. Lucy gasped with surprise, "I remember this! It's… It's your song!" In all the time since she had first heard him play it, Natsu had never sung that specific song for her. The only time she had ever heard its beautiful melody was the first time, when she had gone to his house to find him. It was then that she realized that the song, while when Natsu sang it to her, was for her, it was also for all of Fairy Tail, all of Magnolia. It was Fairy Tail's anthem to the world.

Softly, Natsu began to sing. " _When you´re ice-makes cold,_ _Tarot cards all fold_ , _And these doors stay locked, With the keys we hold, When your ship sets sail, And your stomach fails, You can find your balance in Fairy Tail, You cannot hide from me, Cause we´re a family_ , _Just let the beast inside, Take over don´t you cry, If you stay close to me, Remember you´ll, Be freed, The evil king will call, Dorma Anim will fall._ " His voice became louder as his confidence grew. By now, everyone had their eyes on the two, everything silent except for the music and the singing.

" _Now these, Oracion Seis, Will bring the, Darkest days, But I´ll stay by your side, During this, Demon fight, I´ve got a, Fire in me, And I know inside, I can feel it burn, The dragons will return!_ "

Lucy joined in, adding her voice to his. " _You´ve aching bones, And you´re out of home, And you´ve lost your way, You're not alone, Hold your hand up high, To the light of day, Though there's miles, Between us, I´m looking your way, Why do you always frown? When the rain comes down, They say you just bring gloom, I´ll stay here next to you, If you stay close to me, Remember you, You´ll be freed, Zeref even Jellal, The darkest guilds will fall._ "

" _Now these Oracion Seis, Will bring the darkest days, But I´ll stay by your side, During this demon fight! I´ve got a fire in me, And I know inside, I can feel it burn, The Dragons will return!_ " Together, they smiled, their voices growing soft as they sang the last chorus. They pressed their foreheads together, staring into each other's eyes.

" _These Oracion Seis, Will bring the darkest days, But I´ll stay by your side during, This demon fight! I´ve got a fire in me, And I know inside, I can feel it burn, The Dragons will return!_ "

The music faded, and for a moment, all was still. It was as if the song had cast a spell. It was broken when everyone began clapping. Lucy blushed and whispered in Natsu's ear, "Look at this. You went from puppy to prince."

"I only wanted to give you a Fairy Tail fairy tale wedding. I think I did pretty good!" He grinned at her.

Lucy smirked and kissed his cheek, "I'll be the judge of that…"

Natsu pouted, "I'll remember that!"

They danced for a few more songs, then it was time to cut the cake. Natsu of course got it all over Lucy's face, so she smooshed her piece into his hair. As they laughed, Erza glared at them. "How could you two waste perfectly good strawberry cake?!" They both quickly cut her a piece, which calmed her down immediately.

The two served cake to everyone, then went to their respective bathrooms to clean up. When they came out, everyone was at the buffet table, getting dinner and laughing and having a good time. Lucy slipped away ad got a plate of food for both of them, then dragged Natsu outside. Most of the citizens of Magnolia had gone home, as it was getting late.

They ate their food together in silence, just enjoying each other's company. "Ya know Luce, I think this has been the best day of my life."

She nodded, "Aye. It seems like not only this was our best day so far, but also other people's." She turned around and gestured to Happy and Carla, who were sitting together on the balcony of the second floor inside, eating cake together, their tails entwined. She then pointed to Levy and Gajeel, how Levy was in his lap and they were laughing. Gray and Juvia were in a corner, locking lips. Even Mira and Laxus were sitting alone together, each blushing a bit.

"I see what you mean." Natsu turned to Lucy, "Luce, do you realize how much you did for this guild? How much you still do for it? When you came into my life, the whole guild got better. I gained a partner, me and Gray, surprisingly, fought less, and I actually started earning money on jobs, because I didn't totally destroy things anymore. And without you, we never would have gotten that guy, the guy with the book, Daybreak, his closure about his father, or the guild never would have made it back from Edolas. Without you, we would have died on Tenrou, or lost the Grand Magic Games. I never would have survived losing Igneel. If you didn't join Fairy Tail, Tartaros would have won, and we never would have gotten the guild back together two years ago. You are at the center of this guild."

"Natsu, it was you who wanted to get the guild back together, not me. If you hadn't crashed the Games from two years ago, I never would have gone looking for you all."

Natsu shook his head, "No no no, Lucy! If you hadn't kept track of us all, we would have had nowhere to look! Look, Luce, just accept this ok? You are the glue that kept Fairy Tail together."

Lucy grumbled, but consented. "Fine….." Natsu smiled at her and kissed her.

"Come on, we have one last adventure to go on." He winked at her, and it took her a minute to figure out what he meant, but when she did, she turned a bright red and followed him. Lucy looked back at the guild and waved to Erza and Levy, getting their attention to let them know they were leaving.

The newlyweds walked all the way to their house, making idle conversation. Just when Lucy was about to enter the front door, Natsu scooped her up and carried her inside and all the way to the bedroom. Once there, he threw her onto the bed, a wicked gleam in his eyes.

"Now Luce, remember how you said you were the judge on whether I gave you the perfect wedding?" She nodded, her eyes wide. She tried to straighten her dress which had fallen askew when she was thrown, so now it showed quite a bit of her legs. Her hair, which she had taken out of its bun hours earlier, was now splayed around her.

Just then, there was a poof, and Virgo appeared beside Natsu. "Well I'm the judge now." Natsu leaned over her a bit, his vest and shirt open so she could see his chest.

Virgo smiled at Lucy, her eyes reflecting Natsu's, as though they had planned this. "And it's time for punishment, Princess."

 _The end._

* * *

 **Oheyo Minna!**

 **So some of you know that I was going to write this chapter and post it as two chapters. Well I didn't write as much as I thought I would, so I kept it to one. The theme was Happy Ever After.**

 **I hope you liked what I did for their wedding! I know I didn't go into much detail about the wedding itself, but that is so you the reader can imagine what you will about the dress, the decorations, and the rest of the event!**

 **Natsu: Yeah! I'm married!**

 **Gray: I'm going to marry Juvia?!**

 ***Natsu snickers at Gray***

 **Juvia: Does Gray not want to marry Juvia? *eyes start to water***

 **Lucy: Oh dear Gray, you got yourself into a big one now!**

 ***Juvia begins to bawl and Gray tries to comfort her***

 **Natsu: Riley doesn't own Fairy Tail, or it's characters. Now Luce... *evil look* where's Virgo. I wanna reenact the last scene.**

 **Lucy: Help Me!**

 **-b**


End file.
